Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award Nominees Announced

The McDonald's All American Game must be nearing, March 30 to be exact, because just this week the finalists were rolled out for the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award. Named after the legendary high school coach from DeMatha High School in Maryland the honor puts a big spotlight on the boy and girl who have been dominating high school hoops and are ready for that next level.

On the boy's side it is some names you may be familiar with. In alphabetical order: Anthony Davis (Perspectives Charter School – Chicago, Ill.), Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick High School – Elizabeth, N.J.), James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian – Norfolk, Va.) and Austin Rivers (Winter Park High School – Winter Park, Fla.). Rivers is of course the son of Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers while James McAdoo has uncle Bob McAdoo who had the honor of once wearing those fresh Buffalo Braves uniforms. Davis and Gilchrist are no slouches with both headed to Kentucky to be the latest high level recruits in Coach Calipari's system. Also of note both Rivers and McAdoo are heading to Tobacco Road rivals with Rivers Duke bound and McAdoo slotted for North Carolina.

The girl's do not disappoint with four equally talented ballers. In alphabetical order: Cierra Burdick (Butler High School – Mathews, N.C.), Ariel Massengale (Bolingbrook High School – Bolingbrook, Ill.), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Mater Dei High School – Santa Ana, Calif.) and Elizabeth Williams (Princess Anne High School – Virginia Beach, Va.) The UCONN bound Mosqueda-Lewis leads this pack from power house Mater Dei in Southern California. The ESPN High School Player of the Year last season she has kept it going this season and will continue the embarrassment of riches in Storrs. Arch rival Tennessee has secured Cierra Burdick. Will those two colleges ever play again collegiately, perhaps only in March but it is a big get for Pat Summit pulling Burdick out of North Carolina. Joining Burdick as Volunteer is Massengale, a top flight talent from the Chicago area who was also part of Team USA U17 World Championship squad along with the rest of the ladies mentioned. Rounding things out is Williams, the top rated post player and second rated recruit overall on ESPN.com who is bound for Duke.

Between these eight athletes you could make a strong case for any of them. The exciting things for fans will be the likely chance to see this group compete at the McDonald's All-American Game. The deserving winner will be announced on March 15 with the game set for March 30 in Chicago. Check it out live on ESPNU and ESPN and get a closer look at the future of college hoops.

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Diary of a McDonald's All-American Part I: Duke-Bound Haley Peters

It's the end of the March. Another high school basketball season has come to a close, and with that comes the annual McDonald's All-American Game. The 2010 edition takes place in Columbus, Ohio at the Value City Arena this Wednesday.

HHR enlisted a player from both the boys and girls' teams to give us a personal diary of some of their time as a McDonald's All-American.

First up is Haley Peters, a member of the East Squad from The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ. Haley is headed to Duke, but in the meantime she gets props for being a Garden State native like so many of the HHR staffers. She takes us inside her life for two days as a member of the McDonald's East squad.


Haley Peters Journal
Written March 28, 2010

Saturday, March 27

I arrived in Columbus for the 2010 McDonald’s All American Games yesterday here from Newark at 4:00 p.m. with fellow New Jersey native Laurin Mincy. We were greeted at the airport by a few of the McDonald’s volunteers and staff members, who were friendly and helpful as usual. From there we took a short car ride to the hotel, and since then the activities and events have not stopped. Right away I met up with some former and future teammates, as well as some friends from other teams. Chiney Ogwumike was in the lobby when I walked in. Soon after I saw Maggie Lucas, my Philly Belles teammate, and fellow future Dukie Richa Jackson.

I first went to a meeting room to collect my gear and sign a few basketballs that are going to be auctioned at the banquet Tuesday night to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio (more on that later). I tried on my #33 white uniform, shirts, sneakers, and shorts for sizing and then moved on to the next meeting room for a picture in the jersey.

From there I had a minute to put my stuff into my room and met my roommate Jennifer O’Neill, a PG from the Bronx. She and I have played against each other a few times in some New York events, so I was excited when I saw we were rooming together. Not to mention that we were hooked up with the corner room in the hotel, so it’s a little more spacious and has a couple extra couches.

The rest of Saturday had more fittings, specifically for the banquet dresses. This year, they are red, and every player had the option to go with a long or short one, and everyone who was being fitted at the same time as me looked beautiful in them.

The main event of the day was the welcome dinner. So far the meals have been delicious- the first night included chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and chocolate cake. I had to break my Lent fast of deserts for the night to try the chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies.

After dinner we had team meetings. Coach Rogers, Schlabach, and Moser are heading up the East team this year, and the tone from the outset was that our team will not be the stereotypical all-star game team. Coach Rogers brings a lot of intensity, and as a team we established pretty quickly that our main goal was to win. We then hung out for a little while in the players lounge, watched some of the NCAA tourney games, and played EA Sports and Rock Band before heading to bed.

Sunday, March 28

Sunday started pretty early with breakfast, then optional religious services. From there we headed out for a full day. First we headed to the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus. The entire event is truly centered on this charity and one of the most surprising things for me these past two days is how central that organization is to all that we do. We ate an early lunch at the House, then baked cookies, read stories with the kids, played HORSE, and had a tour of the facility. The volunteer work there is incredible.


We headed across the street to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital and I ended up in a group with Ronika Ransford, Jenny from the Bronx, and Samarie Walker.

We visited about four rooms in the hospital and handed out basketballs, teddy bears, and signed pictures for the sick children. For most of us, this has been the highlight of the week thus far. Volunteering there put a smile on my face for the whole day.

From there we headed to practice at Ohio State. We went for just about an hour and a half after a quick warm up. The East team’s intensity from the previous night’s meeting carried over as we worked on some transition and defense.

Since then, we’ve had some time to hang out with some of the boys players during the EA Sports tournament. Tiffany Moore, Afure Jemerigbe, and I entered into the Rock Band tournament, and for a first time band we performed pretty well. Quite frankly, we should have won, but there was a little interference from some opponents... Tomorrow is another busy day with the Jamfest at night and a visit to McDonald’s and the Columbus Zoo!

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Tonight’s Jam Fest begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with the finals will air live on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

As for the games themselves, both will air this Wednesday. The girls game starts at 5:30 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPNU. The boys game will tip off at 8:00 p.m. ET and broadcast live on ESPN.

Game tickets are still available, and you can get them here.

For those in the Cleveland area, you can get POWERADE Jam Fest tickets for tonight here.

(Or you can buy tickets to both by calling (866) 909-GAME)

You can visit www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com for additional info.

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HHR Talks With McDonald's All-Americans and UNC-Bound David & Travis Wear

The McDonald’s All American Games are about more than just the Games themselves. It’s truly an experience – it’s about being a good person on and off the court, and succeeding through other avenues like giving back. In addition to McDonald’s All American Game striving to teach its players through its Advisory Council which features the likes of Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard and Candace Parker, the Game is played for Charity (Ronald McDonald House Charities), where most other prep games aren’t.

The Games will go down this week down in Miami, Florida. The men's game features the best of the best divided into East and West squads, takes place Wednesday night at 8pm est at the University of Miami. It airs Wednesday night on ESPN2 at 11:30pm EST.

HHR had a chance to catch up with two members of the West squad. David and Travis Wear, twins out of Huntington Beach, California (Mater Dei High School), both of whom are headed to the University of North Carolina.


David was named the Orange County Register’s player of the year and Travis was right there with him on the All-County First Team.


David Wear
Height/Weight: 6'10", 220 lbs.
Position: F
PPG: 16.2
RPG: 7.4
College: Committed to North Carolina

HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has the whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience been like thus far?

David Wear: It’s a great experience. I flew in two days ago and ever since I got here we have been running around. It’s a lot of fun. It’s really hectic hanging out with all these guys, all the media and how busy we are, the practicing, but its a lot of fun, we’re pretty busy.

HHR: What was your reaction to being named to the team?

DW: Every high school player, one of their goals is to make this team. I feel great to have this opportunity to play with some of the best, play on TV in front of everybody, and show what we got.

HHR: You were also named to the team with your brother Travis, that must be a great feeling?

DW: It was a great thing. I didn’t know we were both going to be named. I was hoping one of us would be named. That was one of our goals. When we found out we both made, it we were really excited. Some of our goals growing up were to be at the same college and to make the McDonald’s All-American team, and we have gotten to do both.

HHR: What is the process for even making this team?

DW: You get nominated, I think it is a 100 person group in each region, and then they go through process of cutting it down and narrowing it down to the final team. My coach told me about a week before that we were both selected for the west team, we were very excited.

HHR: You played with your brother in high school at Mater Dei in California, now again on this team and in the future in college how are you two different on the court?

DW: I think I’m more comfortable playing in the post, he is more comfortable putting the ball on the ground, shooting the ball, but we can both rebound and run the court so I don’t see too many other differences.

HHR: So when you two match up one on one, who usually wins?

DW: Half the time we don’t finish our games, they end up in a fight (laughs), but I’d say it would be me winning.

HHR: You are both headed to the North Carolina, how did that recruitment process work, did you bill yourselves as a package deal?

DW: We basically told everyone that we are going to the same school, we knew we wanted to go to the same school, going to separate schools was never an option. Everyone just recruited us as players they both wanted and North Carolina happened to offer both of us.

HHR: North Carolina is now headed back to the Final Four after this past weekend’s action, you must feel even better about your decision now.

DW: I’m really happy, I’m really comfortable in my decision, and maybe I’ll be in the Final Four next year.

HHR: Finally, what do you hope to take away from this whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience?

DW: Just to enjoy my last high school game, meet new people, take it all in, the whole media session, even the game being on TV, I know its an all star game, but its always good fun, I just want to enjoy my last high school game.


Travis Wear
Height/Weight: 6' 10", 230 lbs.
Position: G, F
PPG: 15
RPG: 6.4
College: Committed to North Carolina

HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has been like to be named to this team?

Travis Wear: It’s a great honor being able to come out here and play with all the good players in the country. It's a lot of fun to come out here.

HHR: You were both picked for the squad, was that a surprise at all?

TW: I think I knew, if one of us was to get it, that we would both get it. To be out here competing against guys I grew up playing against, it’s really cool.

HHR: Outside of basketball what else have you done on this trip?

TW: We went over to a Ronald McDonald house and played with the kids, and we also went over to the Sea Aquarium and got to swim with the dolphins. Actually, we haven’t really been on the court all that much.

HHR: Do you look at other great brother combos like the Griffin brothers at Oklahoma or the Lopez brothers at Stanford and how they play as you get set to enter college?

TW: No, not really. I watch them to see how they interact on the court. I don’t look it how they play they game, I like looking how they interact on the court (as brothers).

HHR: For someone that doesn’t know your game, how would you describe it?

TW: I am pretty versatile, outside and inside, good court vision, I can pass the ball very well, I can bring the ball up the court, and I just play hard all the time.

HHR: You are both headed to UNC next year, they are headed to another Final Four you have to be pretty excited about your college choice?

TW: Yeah definitely. The expectations next year will be high. They have a pretty good recruiting class coming in, and hopefully with the guys that are there we could get back to the Final Four.

HHR: Lastly, what do you take away from this whole experience of being a McDonald’s All-American?

TW: It’s an opportunity to see how you do against better competition. Also, it’s not only basketball, but charity work. It is just good to give back to the community, and just a good experience all around.

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